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ATM skimming continued to spread globally in January, particularly in areas that have not fully implemented EMV Chip. Of note were apparent increases in attacks in Singapore, US, Botswana, Thailand, Philippines and India. Following ATM skimming in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) encouraged banks to implement chip ahead of a 2014 deadline. There was also much debate about the value of other solutions aimed at reducing the effectiveness of ATM skimming attacks. In the US, one Romanian suspect was accused of being involved in a $1.5 million ATM skimming operation. Perhaps due to a greater awareness in countries which have long experienced ATM skimming, and adopted specific consumer education programs, there were many reports of ATM skimming devices being noticed by consumers, service technicians, law enforcement and other industry stakeholders.

Europe continued to be impacted by a large number of card trapping and cash trapping incidents through January. Card swapping was reported in South Africa and India. In India, a student was arrested and accused of withdrawing money from others accounts by exploiting the fact that the ATM kept the transaction live for 15 seconds after customers left the ATM (leaving transaction live fraud).

Transaction reversal fraud continued in the UK during January. Pre-paid cards are the most common type of card used in transaction reversal fraud incidents.

Ram Raid Attacks / Theft of ATM / Smash-and-Grab

Ram raids and other thefts of ATMs continued in many countries during January. One of the most unusual thefts of an ATM occurred in the UK in January. The perpetrators dug a 100 foot long tunnel to access the premises and remove the ATM which is understood to actually have contained a relatively low quantity of cash at the time of the theft. In New Zealand, one attack failed when the ATM became stuck under the vehicle being used to remove it, forcing the perpetrators to abandon both the vehicle and the ATM. Most successful thefts in January involved the use of construction equipment.

Safe Cutting / Safe Breaking / Theft from ATM

Amongst the more unusual attempted thefts from ATMs included an incident in the US. Authorities initially thought, a man and a child, had attempted an attack. The man later approached police to clarify that he was a contractor cleaning the ATM accompanied by his grandson. No charges were filed. In a failed incident in India, the perpetrators apparently did not realise that behind the plastic door of the ATM there was a metal safe.

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The above digest is provided by DFR Risk Management, who provide consultancy services advising ATM and self-service terminal deployers and manufacturers, as well as law-enforcement agencies, onhow to manage ATM and self-service terminal fraud and security threats.